Francis Baron, the English Rugby Football Union's chief executive, predicted yesterday that a World Cup held in England in 2007 would generate treble the profit made by the 1999 hosts Wales. If so, that would mean a net surplus of some £150 million.
There is an agreement with Wales which requires the RFU to hand over 20 per cent to the Welsh Rugby Union if England decline to allocate them any pool games, and Scotland and Ireland would also receive a share of the proceeds, but that would still allow the English union to show a healthy surplus.
England yesterday presented their World Cup bid with the men behind it due to fly to Buenos Aires today on the first leg of a marathon global tour aimed at gathering political support for the plan. They will be hoping that their choice of flight, Air France, does not prove an unfortunate omen given that their main rivals for staging the tournament are France.
England are proposing a revamped two-tier tournament. Instead of the traditional 20-team competition, their "preferred option" is a 16-team main competition held over 45 days alongside a 32-nation event for developing rugby countries, the Rugby World Nations Cup. That would increase the number of competitive games while reducing mismatches of limited appeal.
Traditional football venues such as Old Trafford and Villa Park as well as Manchester's Commonwealth Games stadium could also be used for the tournament.
The timing of the tournament is also an issue, with England favouring a June/July slot, which would require changes to the Southern Hemisphere fixture list. If England do stage a summer tournament in 2007, the Six Nations and the Tri-nations would be played simultaneously in March and April.
Baron was keen to dissociate himself from the French World Cup adviser Marcel Martin's view that a joint Anglo-French bid would be a better commercial option, stressing England wanted to be sole hosts.
With the IRB having deferred a decision until April, not least because chairman Vernon Pugh has been ill in hospital since August, the lobbying season will be lengthy.
How the 2007 World Cup could look:
A 16-team main competition split into four pools of four. The top two teams in each pool progress to a "Super 8" stage.
The "Super 8" section will comprise two groups of four teams. The top two teams in each group will then advance to the semi-finals.
The Rugby World Nations Cup will feature 32 teams from developing rugby countries.
In total the 48 teams will play 100 matches spanning 45 days.
Meanwhile, Northampton skipper Budge Pountney and fellow Scotland international Matt Stewart have been cited by Biarritz for alleged foul play during Saturday's Heineken Cup clash between the clubs in France.
Tournament organisers have also received a citing from Northampton, relating to Biarritz number eight Thomas Lievremont.
Flanker Pountney has been reported for alleged kneeing and trampling, while the complaint about Stewart relates to trampling. Lievremont has been cited for punching.
